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Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Writing, Marketing, Platform Oh My

Writing, marketing, developing a platform, editing, monetizing, and the list goes on for a writer who wants to make a business of doing what they love.... WRITING. Add in the normal distractions that life can bring on a daily basis and it can be easy to lose focus. I know because it happened to me.

Does it happen to you? You become so wrapped up in the process of marketing, branding, networking, generating new ideas, and goal setting with an action plan that you look back and find no words on the page... and those words, characters and story lines rattle around in your head trying to find their place on the page have to wait for again another day. Life's little distractions can all but halt the best of us.

So how do you tame the "distraction monsters" that try to steal your writing time? First deciding what is important to you is a big part of how you decide where to put your effort. For some, life's distractions do become more important than the writing and marketing at some point in life. Your state of health, your current financial status, and family obligations also can become distractions and may even force writing and marketing to take a back burner for a time. But if your decision to pursue your writing is burning in your heart there is a way.

Fifteen minutes a day... that is all it takes to write something. Fifteen minutes for a character description, fifteen minutes to send a marketing email to your local newspaper, fifteen minutes to network with other writers on your preferred social media site..... fifteen minutes today and every day notches out 105 minutes a week for writing and developing your platform. It can be done.

The lesson here is to rid yourself of any guilt because you haven't written or because you needed to take a break from promoting your writing. Get back on track and write. Many may not agree but writing comes first at least initially.... you cannot promote or market if you don't have something solid to offer.

Once those ideas start showing up on the page with those precious words coming from your heart the rest will follow. Time for marketing and promoting will fit easier into your daily schedule because now you are focused and know where you are headed. The ideas will flow because you are doing what you love. If you have dry periods where you have lost focus or have had been invaded by the "distraction monsters" simply go back to fifteen minutes a day. It worked for me.

Terri Forehand is an author and neonatal nurse. She lives with her husband in the hills of Nashville Indiana where they also own a small fabric shop. She is currently working on several projects including stories about quilting for kids. Visit her blog at http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com

Hi Terri, It isn't easy to banish the guilt monster. Your post is helpful in nailing a commitment every day to write. Lately, I've had to write at night only, which is a change from spending lots of hours during the day. I come to my desk tired from the day but forgo reading or watching TV in order to make writing a priority. Sometimes it's only 15 min. a day. Your post helps me feel less guilty on those days. Thanks.